Sebastian Vettel: One very ordinary year

Sebastian Vettel. Formula One driver, four-time Formula One World Champion and one of the biggest exponents of ‘take my bat and ball and go home’ in sporting history.

Since coming up through the ranks he drove in his first Formula One in 2007, where he finished eighth to become the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One.

Since then, Sebastian Vettel has gone on to become the most successful Formula One driver over the past eight years. At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at the famed Monza circuit, he became the youngest driver in Formula One history to win a grand prix.

As a result had everyone in the paddock, including owner of Red Bull Racing, Dietrich Mateschitz, shouting from the hilltops about his obvious potential behind the wheel of an Formula One car.

Four consecutive titles later, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, he will no doubt go on to become one of the most successful in the sport’s history. And he is only 27.

But one does wonder how does a four-time consecutive world champion go from being the king of the Formula One tree, to falling out of it.

What is not in doubt is that arrogance breeds contempt and so one would be forgiven for thinking that even those at Redbull Racing, namely Team Chief Christian Horner and Technical boss Adrian Newey, who had given into his every wish and need over the past four years wouldn’t be that unhappy to see him head to Ferrari. His departure was of the worst kept secrets in Formula One in years.

Yes 2014 was a year of both technical and sporting rule changes but these challenges also hit every other team in Formula One and the fact remains is that Mercedes and both their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Roseberg, have adapted to these changes better then Redbull.

That is why one of those two drivers will become the new Formula One World Champion at Abu Dhabi this weekend. That said Daniel Ricciardo, in his first year at Redbull, has had a fantastic year and will finish it sitting at #3 in the championship with three wins.

Vettel has not won a race all year and has only been on the podium four times. To a driver with the obvious ego that Vettel has, that would not have gone down well.

While his pay packet might not have reflected it, Riccardo was clearly the number one driver at Redbull by season’s end. And fair enough. At times this year, especially in the back end of the 2014 season, Vettel just seemed turn up to the circuit, go through his paces, collect his considerable pay packet (reported at a staggering $31.7 million) and go home.

He has seemed completely out of sorts on every level and on the odd occasion seemed more interested in parking the car when ever he could. Even to the casual observer, it was blatantly obvious he had checked out weeks ago. And that is part of the issue. Vettel does what Vettel wants and he has proved it time and time again.

Just ask Mark Webber.

If Ricciardo, in his first year at Redbull, can drive a car that is essentially the same as Vettel’s to three wins, one would have think that Vettel might have given the championship a bit of a nudge. But like the old saying goes ‘you gotta be in it to win it’ and in the high stakes game that is Formula One circus that doesn’t mean just turning up.

He might have won four Formula One World Championships with Redbull but his last year with them will also remembered as the year he just didn’t turn up. Vettel’s ex-Redbull teammate Mark Webber was quoted this week as saying that Vettel “was frustrated, he wants results, but he knows better than anyone else that he needs to be patient.”

The only problem with that is I don’t think he knows how to.